Poo Timer

This app was built to reduce time-wasting while using the bathroom. Inspired by the gag gift below, it is designed for folx that are susceptible to being drawn into distractions and forgetting about the business at hand. All that the user has to do is to select a target timer duration via the Settings screen, then tap the Start Timer button to begin the countdown. The user can see the timer counting down to 0:00 or background the app and do whatever they wish. A few minutes later, the user gets an alert (audible if the app is active/notification with custom audio if the app is backgrounded) when the target time has elapsed.

The gag gift that is the inspiration for this app.

Look out for more updates to come!

📱 App Store Download Link

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/oh-poo/id6478238700

App Structure

To be added.

Screenshots

   

From left to right: Home Screen, Settings Screen, Timer Screen.

Learnings

One wish for this app was to play an audio file at the end of the user's timer, even while the app was backgrounded. I learned that although it is possible to continue an audio session into a background state (I implemented this for the starting audio file), it is not possible to start an audio session from a backgrounded state without user/server intervention or a hacked solution. These solutions include:

Note

The simulator will play delayed audio, although a real device will not.

Solution	Description
Silent Push Notification	Send a push notification to the app silently, and use it to trigger a new audio session. Silent Push Notifications can only be sent by a server, which is out of the scope of this project.
Background Fetch	Can be used to start up a background task, however the trigger timing may not be precise and it may not occur at all, if system resources are limited.
Continuous silent audio	A continuously playing silent audio file for the duration of the timer. This solution is "hacky" and not recommended: it may impact audio from other applications and it will impact phone battery life.

I discovered that I can use a UILocalNotification to trigger a local push notification, including custom audio. I implemented this solution.

Future Work

Version 1.1

1. Allow initial timer arc to show a small white section at the top.
2. Set the initial value throughout the app at one source, instead of using hardcoded "3" minutes or "180" seconds in various places.
3. Reactive sizing:
   1. Home screen image size, e.g. minimum of screen width or height plus padding.
   2. Remaining time on Timer screen.
   3. Including max and min values for images and text—including consideration for iPad screens.
   4. Restore iPad to supported destinations, when sizing is updated.
4. Change Timer value to text after time has expired.
5. Periodic alerts/sounds to remind the user about their business.
6. Add launch screen file.
7. Comments from Andres:
   1. Look into using UserDefault to store settings. This is new to me. Check out an example here.
   2. Move the OhPooApp class at the same level of AppDelegate in the file hierarchy to make it easier to find. Alphabetize filenames.
   3. Scope TBD—Ideally, Views should only show info, not handle any type of logic. Have you considered moving logic away from the views? A common practice is to have a Presenter/ViewModel that is referenced by each View, so all the state comes from the Presenter/ViewModel.
   4. Scope TBD—Another common practice is to provide dependencies instead of creating them inside the Views. For example, in HomeView, you are creating an instance of LocalNotifications there. It would be preferred to provide it in the init constructor. This would help to make that logic testable with unit tests. Maybe this can help to understand more about the technique (dependency injection).

Later Versions

1. Update "Back" button title to "Home" on Timer screen.

2. Settings additions:

   1. Manually start timer on Timer screen.
   2. Add different filling Timer screen image options (e.g. Roses, Children to school, "2", monarch on a throne)

3. Make duration selection a pickerwheel, including seconds? This would require an overhaul of the numbers being passed around.

4. Add loading view, for any delay (this is unlikely to ever show, unless we add server interactions).

5. Notification permissions:

   1. If user declines after the first request, let them know the consequence, and how to turn on Notifications in Settings. Add a link to Settings, if possible.
   2. Pop up permission alert if the user previously declined to receive notifications (not desirable unless a user can select not to be asked again).

6. Different timers/themes. e.g. Kitchen/cooking; task completion; kids' TV, nap, poo distinguished from adults.

7. Handle settings load/save errors.

8. Add poo facts while timer counts down.

9. Add support for iOS 16.

10. Add stopwatch mode, with ability to save duration and date/time. This would be useful for people that suffer from Crohn's disease.

11. Add accessibility features.

12. Comments from Andres:

    1. Scope TBD—Ideally, Views should only show info, not handle any type of logic. Have you considered moving logic away from the views? A common practice is to have a Presenter/ViewModel that is referenced by each View, so all the state comes from the Presenter/ViewModel.
    2. Scope TBD—Another common practice is to provide dependencies instead of creating them inside the Views. For example, in HomeView, you are creating an instance of LocalNotifications there. It would be preferred to provide it in the init constructor. This would help to make that logic testable with unit tests. Maybe this can help to understand more about the technique (dependency injection).
    3. Make time and sound icon on Home screen tappable to update values. I will hold off on this until there are more options in Settings, as it would make that sheet (with some skills displayed) redundant.

Unknown questions to answer

1. Research whether navigating from my app to another via the "Back to [App]" button in the top left, or via a push notif, will impact the behavior of my scene change code. It isn't expected as I only check whether I am in the .active state.

Known Issues/Bugs

1. After changing device orientation on the Timer screen, the space between the two main elements is reduced.
2. If I background the app during a timer, then I kill the app from the background state, I still receive a push notification.

Special Thanks

Thanks to the following for your contributions to the production of this application.

1. Vince Romani, Andres Llerena, Lydia McLaughlin and Allyson Vakhovskaya—former colleagues that provided feedback throughout the development process.
2. Sound Jay—the source of all sound effects in the application, used in accordance with their Terms of Service.